Startups and Investors to rock @GeeknRolla, March 30, London

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Three years ago I created the concept of the GeeknRolla annual conference to bring together Europe’s technology startups to network with investors and talk about how they create and build themselves. This year we are stepping on the gas pedal. We want to launch 15-20 brand new startups there and our tagline this year is this: “Investor Dealflow. Startup Exposure”.

If you are a European startup in stealth or in private beta and want to launch at GeeknRolla, then fill out this form. The deadline is February 24. Any startup selected to pitch on stage will get one free ticket (for the person pitching) and there is no charge to pitch. We will notify all companies invited to pitch by March 4. If you have not heard from us by that time, your application was not successful. If you wish to attend the GeeknRolla conference you will then have to purchase tickets.

As with last year there is a special emphasis on launching startups and connecting them with investors, who will comprise our judging panels. There will also be a DemoPit for startups to showcase their products. We have some interesting plans to give exposure to even more. The venue will be Park Plaza Victoria, 239 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 1EQ. The now legendary GeeknRolla Afterparty, which will take place at the amazing, world-famous London nightclub, Pacha, will also help the networking. Ticket holders for the main day-long conference will automatically get in to the after-party, so fear not! We may release a limited amount of After-Party-only tickets at a later date. Details of how to get these will be available in due course, so stay tuned to the GeeknRolla Twitter feed and the event web site.

I’d strongly advise you get a ticket. Last year we more than sold out shortly after GeeknRolla was announced. To attend the event, tickets will be £149 (£130 for early bird tickets). Thus is a stunning price for a conference of this nature. See who we had to speak last year and check out all the video.

We’re initially announcing our first wave of speakers, and more are coming. But here’s who we have so far:

We’ll be hearing from Europe’s best entrepreneurs about how they are building their own companies and with it, contributing to Europe’s emerging tech ecosystem. I can pretty much guarantee that the speeches will be fast, furious and fulfilling. We run a tight ship on timing, and there is lots of opportunity to network.

Among many other startups and speakers last year we had on an investment panel include: Alan Patricof (Founder Greycroft), Chris Fralic (First Round Capital), Mattias Ljungman (Atomico Ventures), Robin Klein (The Accelerator Group) and Michael Jackson, (Mangrove Capital).

Below you’ll find our fantastic sponsors so far.

Startup demo tables:
If you want to get a table to demo your startup you can so so in the conferencenetworking/breakout area (with wifi internet access and 2 delegate passes to GKNR and after party). Please choose the ‘Startup demo table’ ticket category. This is £350 if booked by 15 Feb 2011 (only 3 available) or £450 if booked after 15 Feb 2011.

Editorial/Programme Editorial queries related to the programme should be directed to me, Mike Butcher. But do not email to enter the startup competition, just fill out this form.

(Due to strong demand for tickets, we regret tickets are not transferable and not refundable. If you use your name to purchase multiple tickets, your guests must arrive with you to check in at the door. We will not make any name changes so please do NOT request these from the our event team. If you show up at the event without a valid ticket, We reserve the right to charge the full ticket price plus an administration fee to allow access to the event subject to availability. Why are we rather strict about this? Because our events are almost always sold-out and we like to protect the people who actually gone to the trouble of buying a ticket and following the instructions).

LEAD SPONSORS SO FAR

Microsoft® BizSpark™

Microsoft® BizSpark™ is a global program designed to help accelerate the success of early stage startups by providing key resources when they need it the most:

Software. Receive fast and easy access to current full-featured Microsoft development tools, platform technologies, and production licenses of server products for immediate use in developing and bringing to market innovative and interoperable solutions. There is no upfront cost to enroll.

Support. Get connected to Network Partners around the world — incubators, investors, advisors, government agencies and hosters — that are equally involved and vested in software-fueled innovation and entrepreneurship who will provide a wide range of support resources.

Visibility. Achieve global visibility to an audience of potential investors, clients and partners As a Microsoft BizSpark member, you’ll be tapping into a rich, vibrant ecosystem of peers, partners and support resources around the globe, helping you grow and succeed. Microsoft BizSpark is the quickest way to get your Startup fired up.

Joining is easy. Check to see if you qualify – most privately held software development startups in business for less than 3 years that are generating annual revenue under USD $1 million can join. You can join BizSpark through a valid BizSpark Network Partner or a Microsoft BizSpark Champ to get your BizSpark enrollment code. Enrollment is free, just pay a USD $100 program offering fee at program exit. For more details about BizSpark, see: The Startup Program Guide , which describes the program benefits and more. If you want to join BizSpark, click on the link below or send an email to BizSpark@microsoft.com if you are eligible, we will send you a code. www.microsoftstartupzone.com

Moonfruit has been providing DIY tools for people to design and build ‘Beautiful websites, simply.’ since 1999. To date 2.7m+ websites have been built by small businesses, communities, families, designers, crafters and freelancers who want to express themselves online without having to code. Moonfruit is passionate about creativity and simplifying technology for everyone. Our latest release Moonfruit 5.0 is not just a website editor, it behaves more like a graphic design package giving you control over the detailed design of your site. The Flash environment allows true drag and drop, point and click editing. You can layer, crop, animate, colour, apply transparency to objects on your page. You can also now add HTML widgets and social media tools to your sites. All sites are rendered in Flash and an alternate version in HTML. Moonfruit has been profitable since 2003 and grew 70% in 2009. Please go to www.moonfruit.com for more information.

TechHub (@TechHub on Twitter) is the new hub for the technology community. Just 10 seconds walk from Old Street tube station, TechHub London is aimed specifically at technology entrepreneurs, startups and developers. Inside London’s main technology cluster and close to the financial heart, it offers affordable permanent desk spaces, a large member-based co-working area, meeting rooms for hire, a large board room and a conference/event space for up to 200 people. You can work all day on the 100mbs WiFi and connect with a great community of TechHub members. TechHub runs its own events as well as being available to hire for tech or developer events, conferences or meetups. Members are already joining TechHub from all over Europe, Silicon Valley, the Middle East and Asia to use TechHub as a base when they’re in London and we’re arranging Member discounts at some of the great bars, restaurants, cafes and hotels in the area too. TechHub facilities include: 30 permanent desk spaces for monthly hire, 100 pre-bookable co-working spaces, meeting rooms for hire by anyone (discounted for TechHub members), A/V, whiteboards, kitchen facilities and printing. Permanent deskspaces come with wifi/wired data, power and a mailing address. Contact us here. Join the mailing list to get regular updates here. Address: TechHub, Ground Floor, 76-80 City Rd, London, EC1Y 2BJ. Old St tube (exit 5) and a short walk from Moorgate Tube, Liverpool Street mainlines station, and close to taxis and buses.

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Such a great initiative but still crazy you let startups pay to attend. We dont have any money! The rich VCs should pay, they are the ones seeking new projects to invest in and make more money off. Solely for this reason, our startup among many others cant attend, what a shame…

http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

1. Getting a venue in London is expensive.
2. Competing events are a LOT more expensive. e.g. LeWeb over 1,000 Euro.
3. If you are serious about becoming a startup, you’ll invest in networking.

db

Thanks for responding. Sure getting a venue is expensive I get that. So is flight tickets, hotel and entry fees. Why dont you let the VCs pay entrance fees (higher) for the venue, the startups will have problems even getting there as that can cost quite much if you dont live in the UK.

Regarding your point #3. Yes we are serious in becoming a startup (we already are a startup) but that doesnt mean that we have alot of money to spend on flight, hotel and entry fees. We might be students that has to work double jobs to make it go around for our startup. So yeah I think that point is alittle ignorant to say unless you think entrepreneurs with more personal money build better projects.

Also, let the VCs have a booth where they can stand and present themselves.

http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

I don’t think you quite understand the relationship here. The VCs do not need to ‘sell’ themselves. They are the ones with the capital to fund startups, remember?

db

Well they dont need to sell themselves now since the setup is that poor entrepreneurs have to pay to meet rich investors and not the other way around. So what Im saying is that the setup is wrong im not specifically talking about this event, which is as you say cheaper so thats good. Im talking in general. Also, without the startups the VCs wouldnt have a business so they need eachother. Im sure there are tons of entrepreneurs agreeing with me.

What is comes down to is that there are many startups that gets lost and never get funded because its too expensive to find the VCs at these events. In Sweden we recently had an event where the VCs were the sponsors where any entrepreneur could attend. I met lots of people there who never could afford to go overseas to see VCs. The event was packed and it was very successful.

If you have two parties dependant on eachother (startup and vc) and one is dirt poor and need every cent they can get and one is wealthy, the latter one should invest to meet the other one, wouldnt you agree?

http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

Thanks for the feedback. Noted.

MCervantes

Couldnt agree more, sad but true. :( Getting to the event for 1-2 persons, sleep over, eat plus entry fee etc. A 2 day event cost us the same as we have to survive the month – dont ask…we do really live at life minimum cost :/ And what we make with the money we have sounds to anyone impossible…so the extra entry fee is not a lot for those who have the money, but for us it means really a lot. Would love to go but cant. ;(

db

Glad to see that you guys are agreeing (how could you not?). Anyone have any ideas on how we can take this further, get a discussion going, talk to someone that actually listens and not only receives the information as “noted”? We need a revolution in the whole setup for seeking and finding capital in the industry, but who can lead us to this change?

db

Glad to see that you guys are agreeing (how could you not?). Anyone have any ideas on how we can take this further, get a discussion going, talk to someone that actually listens and not only receives the information as “noted”? We need a revolution in the whole setup for seeking and finding capital in the industry, but who can lead us to this change?

db

Glad to see that you guys are agreeing (how could you not?). Anyone have any ideas on how we can take this further, get a discussion going, talk to someone that actually listens and not only receives the information as “noted”? We need a revolution in the whole setup for seeking and finding capital in the industry, but who can lead us to this change?

http://twitter.com/HOTDOQ HOTDOQ

I totally agree but do you have a link of the swedish event for more info?
Thanks.

I have to agree and VC’s lose out too as they miss opportunities that may fit their portfolio. Seed capital is sometimes spent on these events so it’s ironic when VC grumble about the number of ‘small investors’. I don’t mean to have a go at VC, but like pigs at a trough they tend to muscle out the weak feeders don’t they? A maverick in the industry could go a long way if he/she found a new formula.

I just hope Morten is going to give a different talk cause he has been recycling the same
speech since LA WEB 08 ,give or take an ass hole bleaching video here or there.

http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

Yep, a new talk is coming! ;-)

http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

Yep, a new talk is coming! ;-)

http://www.facebook.com/mortenlundxy Morten Lund

GOOD POINT!

db

Morten, how do you view our discussion above, what are your thoughts, as an investor?

Matias

would love to hear about your first break as an entrepreneur, how did you get the funding or the product shipped out of the basement, how did you make an Idea reality…Nobody has a clue, people are everything, Act don’t talk, have a niche and stick to it, turn doubts into wins
and don’t smoke too much weed…ok, but..HOW DO I GET THIS SHIT OUT THERE?

Taryn

Why the same day as Social Media World Forum? Seems like something TechCrunch EU would be covering, no?

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